Systems Life Cycle

Starter and plenary activities:

Word tennis

Students work in groups of three with two 'serving' words related to the topic. The observer monitors for words which are 'out'

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Acting up

A fun starter activity.

Students are given a character card. They then have to explain a term related to this topic whilst staying in character.

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Scrabble

Starter task

Students are given a blank scrabble type sheet and take it in turns to write down key words related to this topic

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Teach me about ...

Students become the teacher! One student is tasked with preparing a five minute revision starter about this topic for the beginning of the following lesson.

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10 Questions

A volunteer (either a student or class teacher) is given a slip of paper so they know 'what they are'.

The rest of the class can ask up to a maximum of 10 questions to guess what they are. The volunteer can only answer 'yes' or 'no'

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Consider All Reasons

Students are given a question related to the topic. They are asked to identify all of the factors that need to be considered in order to answer that question.

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3-2-1

Display this on the whiteboard as students are walking through the door. They can work individually or in pairs to come up with the answers.

Good for differentiation as all students should be able to get at least one of the six points.

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Give me ten

Students work in pairs to come up with ten words related to this project before joining up with another pair to expand their list.

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Lucky dip questions

Every student is given a number at the start of the activity. This is used to help pick who will ask and answer questions about what has been learned during the lesson.

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Memorise this!

Students work in pairs or small groups to remember words which have been shown to them.

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Teacher talkabout

The class 'test' the teacher on their knowledge of key words related to this topic

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Draw me a picture

Starter or plenary

Students are given a selection of key terms and are asked to illustrate one of them in a diagram.

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Just a minute

Starter or plenary task

Students are asked to talk to a partner about this topic for 60 seconds whilst abiding by a set of rules

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One, Two, Three

Can be used either as a starter or a plenary task.

Students are given a sheet to complete firstly on their own, then with a partner and then joining up with another pair

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Pass the Buck

An excellent starter or plenary for involving all students and getting them to identify a large number of facts about the current topic

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What if ...

Starter or plenary activity.
Students work in pairs to discuss a number of 'what if ....' questions

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What's your opinion?

Starter and plenary task

Students are given a statement about this topic and asked to discuss their opinion in pairs. At the end of the lesson they can reassess whether their original opinion has changed

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Word association

A starter or plenary task.

Students are asked to write down all of the words they associate with this topic. They then work with a partner to categorise them.

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Taboo

This starter or plenary follows the theme of the traditional Taboo game. Students work in teams with one student from each team having their back to the board. A word is displayed on the board and teams take it in turns to describe the word to the student without actually mentioning the word itself.

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4-4-2

A plenary activity where students are asked to summarise the lesson and pick out the main key words related to the topic.

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Call my bluff

A plenary activity based on the popular game show, ‘Call My Bluff’

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Mastermind

A plenary activity which is loosely based on the game show 'Mastermind'

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Corkboard

A great plenary idea both for AFL and for getting feedback from every student

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I predict

This task acts as the plenary from one lesson and the starter for the next lesson.

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Text me

A plenary activity where students are asked to write a text message to explain what they have learned during the lesson

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Tweet it

A plenary activity

Students write a ‘Tweet’ message to sum up what they have learned during the lesson

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Lesson Tasks

Theory Notes Task

Students read the theory notes on the mini website and then answer the questions on the sheet.

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Correct the Teacher

Students are given a piece of text written by a ‘teacher’. The text contains a number of mistakes. They are asked to read the text and correct any mistakes they find.

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Connectives

Students are given the beginning of a sentence and then asked to use at least one connective from a given list in order to add further detail and complete it.

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System Life Cycle

This resource can be used to create a quick set of revision notes on the SLC

Contributed by Cathy Brown

Exam Style Question

Students are given a set of questions which are similar to those they might expect to see in their A2 written examination.

A good opportunity to give students practice on question answering technique.

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Introducing a new system

Students are given a case study and questions relating to a fictional business.

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Crossword

Students are given a crossword to solve with clues relating to key words for this topic.

There are three differentiated versions to allow students to choose the best level of difficulty for themselves.

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Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

Answers

Identify the Question

Students are given the answer to a number of questions. Their task is to identify what the original question might have been.

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Mnemonic

Students often find it hard to remember long lists of items. A mnemonic is a rhyme or acronym that they can create to help them recall such a list.

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Sequence the steps

Students are given a cut up list of stages in the process. They work in pairs to assemble them into the correct order.

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Construct an answer

Students are given an exam style question to answer. They are also given a set of key words to incorporate into their answer.

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100 words

Students have exactly 100 words to summarise the key points about this topic